Mercedes X-Class Aces Moose Test, A Win For All Pickup Kind

By now, you’re all probably familiar with the so-called Moose Test, a term coined in the late 90’s after a Swedish publication flipped a first-generation Mercedes A-Class while trying avoid hitting an imaginary moose.

The idea behind the test can apply to pretty much any animal that can make its way onto the road, advising drivers to brake hard and try to slip behind the creature rather than swerve in front of it – it’s more likely that the moose will continue its run forward rather than stop or turn back.

As you can imagine, vehicles with a high center of mass tend to not handle as well as cars that sit closer to the road. A pickup truck certainly falls under this category of vehicles that don’t exactly give you confidence when it comes to performing a sudden avoidance maneuver.

In fact, as recently as last year, the eighth-generation Toyota Hilux pickup failed to pass the moose test, having almost flipped over at the relatively low speed of just 60 km/h (37 mph). That event marked the second time the Hilux nameplate failed this test.

Mercedes‘ X-Class pickup however performed a lot better, despite having a higher speed than the previously-mentioned Toyota. The test was performed by Spanish online publication km77, and the speed in question was 70 km/h (43.5 mph).

According to their findings, the X-Class’ performance was satisfactory, as the truck felt safe and predictable during the avoidance maneuver.